Only 0.4% of men go for sterilization

BENGALURU: Bengaluru is home to a huge gender divide when it comes to sterilization: When 59% of women opt for tubectomy , only 0.4% of men volunteer for permanent contraception, says the district-level household and facility survey (DLHS) report. The situation is better in Karnataka where only 0.2% of men prefer permanent sterilization against 57.4% of women.
Doctors and family planning experts attribute the sharp gender disparity to so cial taboo and commoditization of women despite the fact that vasectomy is an easier procedure with less complications compared to tubectomy . Dr Mamatha S, family welfare officer at the district health office, Bengaluru Urban, said: “Vasectomy is less complicated; it is done by making one or two cuts in the scrotum while tubectomy requires the entire abdomen of a woman to be cut opened. A woman's body remains weak after conceiving and delivering a child. Tubectomy results in additional pressure and might lead to complications later in life.“
The Family Planning Association of India (FPAI), Bengaluru chapter, receives requests from 70 to 80 women for tubectomy every month, with hardly any man enquiring about vasectomy .
Rekha G, president of FPAI, Bengaluru, said: “Some women are treated as baby-producing machines.The husbands and in-laws do not allow them to go for any oral contraceptive method or injections. Hence, women are left with no option but to opt for the surgery .“